Photo by Karon.

The Safeway grocery at the Watergate complex — often referred to as the Senior Safeway due to its appeal to older residents who live in the complex — will close on December 3, reports the Post’s Jonathan O’Connell.

According to O’Connell, the move is part of Safeway’s long-term strategy to strategically update its stock of stores in the District by shuttering older branches — like the one in the Watergate and the former Secret Safeway at 20th and S Streets NW that closed last year — and remodeling others, like its stores in Tenleytown and Petworth. Safeway’s decision to close the Watergate store was certainly made simpler by an upcoming ownership swap at the complex, as well as the preference of neighborhood residents to shop at other grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and the new Whole Foods Market.